Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-04-23

I
would soon drop the Interrogation point
Then it would be shortened to Oye-r'quan
From this it Is only a step to Oye-gan. Thei
Oregon is in sight.
And this is the true origin and the tru
meaning of this beautiful word. Hear tn
waters, And while on this subject may a
well add my protest to many others agains
giving the great Oregon river the meaning
less name of Columbia. The true name i
Oregon. no matter if one Capt. Gray, OF Bos
ton, did sail up this river less than a hundred
wears ago. Let the lines of Bryant live, and le
his testimony remain unimpeached:
Where rolls the Oregon,
And hears no sound save its own dashings.
Hear the waters? Oregon!
know ought to beg pardon for dwelling
so long on this and standing thus long OH th'
mountain top on the edge of this great young
state, but a name, particularly name 81
beautiful as this, is very important. Ant
then let us believe with Bryant that these ole
navigators were poets at least, and gave M
| cheap OF unmeaning name to the great land!
which they took fresh from the hand Of thu
| Creator
Descending from the top of the greal
mountain range which divides the two first
! states on the Pacific sea coast, we come to q
wide and woodless valley. 1t is not very rich
| and, besides, its long isolation from all sea
| ports and markets of the world has left il
much in the background. It is called Rogue
| river. The origin of this mean name may be
easily guessed at. But whatever the stormy
nature Of the men may have been who gave
this name to a very considerable and very
beautiful river, the present people are of the
most harmless. An act has been passed in
the state legislature declaring that the name
is Gold" river and not Rogue" river. But,
all the same, the people still call it Rogue
river. And this new name reminds me that
the gold belt docs not end with the California
line at all. Here, in Oregon. in this wide and
wealthy valley, where wooden mills and all
sorts of machinery rattle and rave on the
banks OF the river, we once had nothing at
all but stormy and struggling mining camps
And even to this day nearly all the little
mountain streams, that come stealing down
from out the steep pine woods, are thick with
mud and gravel from the work Of miners in
the mountains At one time the largest city
in Oregon was mining camp here in this
same valley Of wooden mills and machinery.
49,
And here the greatest battles on all this
western slope were fought with the Indians.
for here it was that the wild man was found
in splendid form. The small, debased saw.
ages of California found no counterpart here.
In fact, all the Oregon Indians are still, and
were from the first, fine ra 'e-tall and
sturdy, and terrible in war. Chief joseph.
who not long ago led Gems. Howard and
Miles such q race when he started for the
frontier Of Canada, is fair example of the
Oregon Indian.
AS the cars dash down Rogue river valley
nearly all OF which is now either a wheat
field or sheep pasture, you can see from the
window to the right a very wonderful forma-
ton of the crater, which has a very wonder
full history. 1t is a broad plateau with basalt
walls, lifted many hundred feet in the air
straight up from the fiat valley surrounding
it on all sides and almost entirely inaccessible
This is called Battle rock, and here the In
dams intrenched themselves for their
last desperate death struggle with the
whites When the world pauses long
enough to catch its breath in this
swift race for place and money, and has time
to write and read Of the History of the bat
ties here, this wonderful forma Ion on the
face Of nature will stand out very promi-
nently in history; and, indeed, so will these
early people of Oregon. as well as their val
liant enemies, the Indians.
How little the world knows Of all those ter.
rible days when the Indian signal fires of bat
tie blazed from almost every mountain ton
for hundreds of miles!
Cen. Lane, sometimes called the Warrior
OF the Mexican War-he who was on the
ticket with Breckenridge for the presidency
led the Oregonians in battle here, and was
badly hit while leading charge up yonder
steep and almost impregnable fortress of
nature.
At last, after a long and bloody war. the
old Indian chief with his gallant son, were
taken prisoners by the Oegonians, and start
ed on ship to San Francisco to be iucar-
cerated in the military dungeons Of Alcatraz
The old chief had but one leg. having ra.
Gently lost the other in battle, and his son |
was in irons. But for all that, on the HIGH |
seas, these two desperate red men rose nm At |
night and captured the ship. However 40
they could not manage her and were drifting
On the rocks, they gave up the ship to the
Ierrlned captain, and finally committed sui
,lde. Tragedies! Tragedies Tragedies all along
mere. his Oregon was one great battle field
more than once; and long before the world
'ither knew or cared very much about this
portion of our continent.
Looking out OF the car windows we sea n
'ood number of new houses on the nleas,rt
;rassy bills, fiocks OF sheep, a great monv
attic and horses. Plenty of Quail ev ali
round us. A perfect roar Of grouse drum.
ilng IN the hills is heard, and scc,;,,els az
'arting up and down nearly every tree Ri
ne most conspicuous creature in all the land
ma one that is ever present, is the lack rab'
'it. lie has become not only a nuisance. bnt
calamlty and curse in Oregon. In some
ounties mere he Is slain by thousands simply